1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of fabric dryers, and more particularly to lint collection systems employed in industrial dryers.
2. Description of the Art
Fabric dryers are well known in the art. In general, dryers include a rotating basket in which wet fabric items are loaded. A heat source and blower provide a continuous stream of heated air into the basket which results in the elimination of moisture from the fabric items. Because the fabric items often include cotton and other short strands of fibrous material that becomes disassociated from the item when stressed (heated and tumbled), to prevent damage to the blower and overheating of the dryer unit, a lint trap is incorporated somewhere along the heated air stream to collect the lint and prevent it from damaging the dryer or more catastrophically, igniting a fire within the unit.
In residential dryers, lint traps generally comprise a small screen that is easily accessible to the user of the dryer, and which can be removed and cleaned, and then placed back into the lint trap receiving slot formed in the dryer unit. In industrial dryers, or dryers that are designed to dry a much larger load (and thus heavier load) of fabrics, the lint traps have traditionally taken one of two forms: a circular screen positioned between the discharge chute and the dryer basket or a flat screen that stretches across the dryer frame between the discharge chute and the dryer basket.
Relative to each of the traditional forms of industrial lint traps, each has drawbacks that the present invention addresses. First, each of the industrial lint traps are difficult to access and clean. Each provide a single large lint collection mechanism that is in and of itself heavy, and generally fastened to a frame. Cleaning the filter results in substantial dryer down time.
Second, each generally collect lint in isolated zones of the filter instead of evenly across the entire screening mechanism. Such uneven collection of the lint results in a more turbulent air flow. The turbulent air-flow results in “hot zones” being present in certain areas of the drum (areas within the drum that are hotter than other areas), thereby resulting in inefficient drying of the items in the dryer.
Third, when certain areas of the lint trap become clogged while other areas remain unclogged, the blower operates less efficiently than it would work if the lint was evenly distributed across the trap. The less efficient operation of the blower results in higher energy consumption, and could result in earlier failure of the blower motor, and/or increased maintenance needed to be performed.
It is a primary object and advantage of the present invention to provide a lint collection system for a dryer that provides a degree of uniformity to the distribution of lint across the lint trap.
It is another object and advantage of the present invention to provide a lint collection system for a dryer that provides a degree of uniformity to the heat distribution applied within the dryer.
It is a further object and advantage of the present invention to provide a lint collection system that is easily accessed and maintained by the dryer's operator.
It is an additional object and advantage of the present invention to provide a lint collection system that automatically collects the filtered lint at the end of each cycle.
It is an additional object and advantage of the present invention to provide a lint collection system that automatically collects the filtered lint in a series of dryers at the end of a cycle.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.